Upsets were few and far between in the early rounds of the women’s NCAA tournament. The Sweet 16 delivered right away.
No. 3 seed Oregon State upended second-seeded Notre Dame in Friday’s opening game of the regional semifinals.
But while the Beavers advanced to the Elite Eight for the first time since 2018 and for the third time in program history, Pac-12 counterpart Stanford was knocked out. No. 3 seed NC State overcame a 10-point halftime deficit to upset the No. 2 seed Cardinal 77-67 behind Aziaha James‘ 29 points.
The Pac-12 put five teams in the Sweet 16 and could still make up half of the Elite Eight. No. 2 seed UCLA, No. 5 seed Colorado and No. 1 seed USC all play Saturday when the regional semifinals continue.
LSU–UCLA tip off Saturday’s four-game slate at 1 p.m. ET (ABC), with all games on ESPN Networks or the ESPN App.
How did NC State hand Stanford a historic NCAA tournament loss? Stanford seemed to have all the momentum in the first half, leading for 13:44 and going into the break up 10 despite junior star Kiki Iriafen playing only six minutes after picking up a couple of early fouls. The Cardinal were 17-0 on the season when leading at the half.
Things took a turn to begin the third quarter. Iriafen picked up her third…
